Japan Air Lines Flight 123

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/japan-air-lines-flight-123

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the flight identifier?Japan Air Lines Flight 123
2. What is the aircraft manufacturer?Boeing
3. What happened to Japan Air Lines Flight 123?The plane crashed after a part of its tail broke off 12 minutes after takeoff. The accident caused 520 people to die, making it the deadliest single-aircraft crash ever.
4. Why did the airplane fall?A repair made in 1978 used two plates instead of one, creating a weak spot. When the plane was pressurized, the weak spot broke, the tail fell off, and the pilots lost control.

Empennage: The tail section of an aircraft, comprising the vertical and horizontal stabilizers.
Aft Fuselage Pressure Bulkhead: A structural barrier at the rear of the aircraft that maintains cabin pressure.
Differential Engine Thrust: Using the engines on one side of the aircraft to provide more or less thrust than the other to influence direction.
Fatigue Analysis: The study of how materials weaken and fail over time due to repeated stress.